Quote:
"... none have a loud enough alarm to wake me up in the morning which is what I need if I want to get on the trail early to avoid afternoon thunderstorms. Of course the cheap watches' alarms aren't loud enough either, but at least it's less money and less buk/weight on my wrist."

Agreed. My smartphone is a far superior alarm clock, not only for absolute volume, but I also like how it increases the volume gradually on the happy little "wake up now!" tune that it plays --- a much less jarring way to wake up.
It's also a lot easier & more intuitive to set the alarm, either on a one-time or recurring basis.
_________________________
Brian Lewis
http://postholer.com/brianle